not spoken of.' Mr. Orpen asked, 'Do you know the secrets?' Qing replied, No, only the initiated men of that dance know these things. To dance' this or that means 'to be acquainted with this or that mystery'; the dances were originally taught by Cagn, the mantis, or grasshopper god. In many mysteries Qing, as a young man, was not initiated. He could not dance them out.' This is the whole of the evidence I have been able to gather respecting the occurrence of the bull-roarer in Europe. In Africa it is found in the west and south. Mrs. R. Braithwaite Batty' describes the cult of Oro (“ Torment ''), a god of terror and vengeance. The Oro represents the active embodiment of the civil power, the local police, the mysterious head or idol of the civil government. Under the name of Oro the initiates exercise unrestricted and unquestioned vengeance on offenders. Any woman getting a sight of or finding out the secrets of Oro would be put to death. ་ The supposed voice of Oro' proceeds from a small piece of wood, actually worshipped as a god-narrow and tapering at each end-somewhat thinner at the edges than in the middle, about an inch wide, and measuring from nearly a foot to three feet in length. This Oro stick is attached to a string, which is fastened to the thin end of a bamboo, or pliable rod, of from six to eight feet or more in length, the string being about double the length of the stem or handle, which is used something after the fashion of a long carter's whip. The motion is horizontal, rotary, and continuous. According to the velocity and the size of the stick is the sound produced-sometimes a high, shrill tone, sometimes deep and grave. The largest stick requires a man of gigantic strength to twirl it" (Fig. 39). ' R. Braithwaite Batty, "Notes on the Yoruba Country," Journ. Anth. Inst., xix., 1890, p. 160. The Bushmen of South Africa have a bull-roarer which slightly increases in width towards its free end, and then has a pointed termination; the button-like attached end has a circular notch round which its string is tied, and the other FIG. 39. Yoruba Bull-Roarers, for Producing the "Voice of Oro." end of the string is fastened to a stick. It is spoken of as a rain-charm, and is said to be also used as a clapper in driving game, and again," They try to charm their luck in hunting. by means of bull-roarers (Fig. 40, No. 1). 1 Ratzel, The History of Mankind (English edition), ii., pp. 275, 276; i., frontispiece. According to a correspondent of Professor Tylor's in South Africa, the bull-roarer is employed to call the men to the celebration of secret functions. A minute description of the instrument and of its magical power to raise a wind is given in Theal's Kaffir Folklore, p. 209.1 He says: "There is a kind of superstition connected with the nodiwu that playing with it invites a gale of wind. Men will, on this account, often prevent boys from using it when they desire calm weather for any purpose. Mrs. Carey-Hobson also records the use of the nodiwu among the Amakosa Kaffirs (Fourn. Anth. Inst., xiv., p. 325). Prof. E. B. Tylor (Academy, April 9, 1881, p. 265) says it is used among the Kaffirs" for rain-making, and in connection with the rites of initiation to warn women off.” 44 2 The bull-roarer is found sporadically throughout America. The Eskimo on the north-west coast have one which is ellipsoidal in form with notched edges (Fig. 40, No. 2); it appears to be purely a child's toy." There are several records of its occurrence among the North American Indians. Bourke' first met with the bull-roarer at the snake dance of the Tusayan, in the village of Walpi, Arizona, in the month of August. "The medicine-men twirled it rapidly, and with a uniform motion, about the head, and from front to rear, and succeeded in faithfully imitating the sound of a gust of rain-laden wind. As explained by one of the medicine-men, by making this sound they compelled the wind and rain to come to the aid of the crops. It is in use among the Apache, and for the same purpose. The prehistoric" cliff-dwellers" of the Verde Valley, in Central Arizona, also employed it. Bourke also found it among the 1 Lang, loc. cit., p. 38, and Bourke, loc. cit., p. 479. 2 J. Murdoch, "Ethnological Results of the Point Barrow Expedition," Ninth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnol., 1887-88 (1892), p. 378. J. G. Bourke, "The Medicine-Men of the Apache," Ibid., 1893, p. 477. Rio Grande Pueblo tribes and the Zuñi. Dr. Washington Matthews has described it as existing among the Navajo, and Major J. W. Powell has observed it in use among the Utes of Nevada and Utah. Captain Bourke describes three forms of bull-roarers, all apparently connected in symbolism with the lightning. The first terminates in a triangular point, and the general shape is either that of a long, narrow parallelogram, capped with an equilateral triangle, or else the whole figure is that of a slender isosceles triangle. When the former shape was used, as at the Tusayan snake dance,' the tracing of a snake or lightning in blue or yellow followed down the length of the rhombus and terminated in the small triangle, which did duty as the snake's head. The second form was serrated on both edges to simulate the form of the snake or lightning; it is found among the Navajo and in the old cliff dwellings. The third form, in use among the Apache, is an oblong, 7 or 8 inches in length, and 1 inches in breadth. The pierced end is rounded to represent rudely a human head. The Apache explained that the lines on the front side of the rhombus were the entrails, and those on the rear side, the hair of their wind god. The hair is of several colours, and represents the lightning. Bourke was led to believe that the rhombus (as he terms it) of the Apache was made by the medicinemen from wood, generally pine or fir, which had been struck by lightning on the mountain-tops. Such wood is held in the highest estimation among them, and is used for the manufacture of amulets of especial efficacy. The Apache name for the rhombus is "sounding wood (Fig. 40, No. 3). The sympathetic American anthropologist, Mr. Cushing, also found a bull-roarer among the Zuñi. He says: 1 Cf. also J. G. Bourke, The Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona, London, 1884, pp. 158, 159. pl. xiii. "I heard one morning a deep, whirring noise. Running out, I saw a procession of three priests of the bow, gorgeous and solemn with sacred embroideries and war paint each distinguished by his badge of degree. The principal priest carried in his arms a wooden idol, ferocious in aspect, yet beautiful with its decorations of shell, turquoise, and brilliant paint. It was nearly hidden by symbolic slats and prayer-sticks most elaborately plumed. He was preceded by a guardian with drawn bow and arrows, while another followed, twirling the soundingslat, which had attracted alike my attention and that of hundreds of the Indians. Slowly they wound their way down the hill, across the river, and off toward the mountain of thunder.''' Schmeltz describes and figures two bull-roarers in the Rijks Ethnographisch Museum in Leiden, which were obtained by Dr. H. Ten Kate from the Papago and the Pima tribes. They are long and narrow, being respectively 18 inches and 15 inches in length; both are painted with simple devices in red. The only information about them is on a label which states that they produce a buzzing noise and are used to frighten away evil spirits (Fig. 40, No. 4). The next American locality is Central Brazil, where Von den Steinen met with it in his second Xingu expedition. One, which was straight at one end and pointed at the other and 23 inches in length, was found in a flute-house of the Mehinaku; it was red in the middle and black at each end. Two others, which were shaped like a fish, were obtained from the Nahuquá; one was decorated with a snake design (Fig. 40, No. 5), and the other had a fish or bat pattern; they were about 14 inches in length. The Nahuquá showed 1 F. H. Cushing, "My Adventures in Zuñi," The Century Magazine, xxvi. (N.S. iv.), 1883. p. 29. 2 J. D. E. Schmeltz, "Das Schwirrholz Versucheiner Monographie," Verh. des Vereins für naturw. Unterhaltung zu Hamburg, Bd. ix., 1896, p. 121. 3 Karl von den Steinen, Unter den Naturvölkern Central Brasiliens, Berlin, 1894, p. 327. |